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Jabra denies support for Elite 85t Bluetooth earbuds on computers

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Jabra denies support for Elite 85t Bluetooth earbuds on computers

#211

Post by gotrythis »

rmellow wrote: post #189
gotrythis wrote: post #48

I have the Elite 85h, and it has the same problem, as well as about a dozen other problems when you connect it to a computer. Same response. But the sales letter for the product makes it clear that they do support computers. My last email to Jabra was ignored: The message that computers are not supported devices on the Jabra Elite 85h was a very upsetting response to receive, so I didn't respond for quite a while. It…

I also have the 85h and I managed to find an unofficial solution: The Jabra Link 370 usb dongle. The headphones will then pair with the Jabra software on PC. That said, I haven't had issues pairing the 85h with a MacBook Pro without the dongle. And finally, it's ridiculous that Jabra doesn't support this or any other solution.

Thanks.

Unfortunately, that's $94 CAD on Amazon, and more money to Jabra to get these headsets to work as advertised. I'm going to save my pennies and get the new Sony WH-1000XM5.

Re: Jabra denies support for Elite 85t Bluetooth earbuds on computers

#212

Post by gotrythis »

rmellow wrote: post #189
gotrythis wrote: post #48

I have the Elite 85h, and it has the same problem, as well as about a dozen other problems when you connect it to a computer. Same response. But the sales letter for the product makes it clear that they do support computers. My last email to Jabra was ignored: The message that computers are not supported devices on the Jabra Elite 85h was a very upsetting response to receive, so I didn't respond for quite a while. It…

I also have the 85h and I managed to find an unofficial solution: The Jabra Link 370 usb dongle. The headphones will then pair with the Jabra software on PC. That said, I haven't had issues pairing the 85h with a MacBook Pro without the dongle. And finally, it's ridiculous that Jabra doesn't support this or any other solution.

Also, I had no trouble with pairing the 85h with a MacBook, until I did. For example, it doesn't work with Zoom, but works for other things. And, it kept making my MacBook forget it has internal speakers. I documented and submitted about a dozen problems.

Re: Jabra denies support for Elite 85t Bluetooth earbuds on computers

#213

Post by smoldesu »

Godel_unicode wrote: post #192
SSLy wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is stock in Fedora, and it's the "driver" in Ubuntu just that apps are using ALSA/Pulse emulation libs, not the native ones. This has no effect on the BT support. Also, it's just Ubuntu being weird again.

Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distro. If Ubuntu requires workarounds to get audio working, then Linux requires workarounds to get audio working. No whatabouts, no "it just needs one quick thing", if it doesn't just work then it doesn't just work.

PipeWire supersedes Pulseaudio. End of discussion. This position is like arguing that Windows 11 isn't the future because most people are still on Windows 10; it's most definitely wrong and relies on circumstance.

You really want to get pedantic? "Linux" isn't Ubuntu, nor is it Fedora nor Arch nor Debian or any of those distros. Linux is a kernel, and it supports several audio backends (or none at all). If we're comparing with Darwin/NT, neither of them "just work" with audio since none of them ship with it. If we're comparing OSes, then we're talking about Monterey vs Windows 11 vs Linux With The Latest Tech. Not Windows 10 just because more people use it. Not Monterey just because it was better.

That's a disadvantage for Linux in most respects since the new "solutions" for desktop Linux are pretty awful (Wayland, Flatpak, GTK4/Libadwaita, etc). Let it be known that desktop audio is not one of those issues anymore, though.

Re: Jabra denies support for Elite 85t Bluetooth earbuds on computers

#215

Post by AshamedCaptain »

smt88 wrote: post #152
kencausey wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)#/media... The spring is that bent metal piece. As you push the plug in it initially pushes by the spring and then it catches in the narrow section of the plug to hold it in.

I can't find any evidence that this is common on 3.5mm jacks. If it is, it must be an incredibly reliable design, because I've never heard of a 3.5mm audio port breaking.

There are multiple examples online. Jacks which no longer do stereo but only one channel, or that require "fiddling" with the connection or rotating the plug, or the risks of leaving a plug inside a socket for a prolonged period of time, etc. And it is really problematic since it is the jack which wears out, which is usually hard to replace; soldered to expensive equipment.

Re: Jabra denies support for Elite 85t Bluetooth earbuds on computers

#216

Post by Godel_unicode »

smoldesu wrote: post #213
Godel_unicode wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distro. If Ubuntu requires workarounds to get audio working, then Linux requires workarounds to get audio working. No whatabouts, no "it just needs one quick thing", if it doesn't just work then it doesn't just work.

PipeWire supersedes Pulseaudio. End of discussion. This position is like arguing that Windows 11 isn't the future because most people are still on Windows 10; it's most definitely wrong and relies on circumstance. You really want to get pedantic? "Linux" isn't Ubuntu, nor is it Fedora nor Arch nor Debian or any of those distros. Linux is a kernel, and it supports several audio backends (or none at all). If we're comp…

This entire post is completely missing my point. I am, and have been been for the entirety of this discussion, talking about what the situation is today. Today, audio is broken on desktop Linux. Other OSes might have the same problem or they might not. Tomorrow might be different. I'll even go so far as to say it will probably be different.

But today, if you download the most popular Linux distro from Canonical and install it on your PC, you are going to have audio issues out of the box. Saying anything else is gaslighting, and it is the main reason desktop Linux fails. People are told "it's good now, trust us!". So they install it, their headphones don't work, they roll their eyes and say "Linux gonna Linux" and go back to their previous OS.

Re: Jabra denies support for Elite 85t Bluetooth earbuds on computers

#217

Post by smoldesu »

Godel_unicode wrote: post #216
smoldesu wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PipeWire supersedes Pulseaudio. End of discussion. This position is like arguing that Windows 11 isn't the future because most people are still on Windows 10; it's most definitely wrong and relies on circumstance. You really want to get pedantic? "Linux" isn't Ubuntu, nor is it Fedora nor Arch nor Debian or any of those distros. Linux is a kernel, and it supports several audio backends (or none at all). If we're comp…

This entire post is completely missing my point. I am, and have been been for the entirety of this discussion, talking about what the situation is today. Today, audio is broken on desktop Linux. Other OSes might have the same problem or they might not. Tomorrow might be different. I'll even go so far as to say it will probably be different. But today, if you download the most popular Linux distro from Canonical and i…

You're also missing the other side of that coin: that's not my problem. I don't care how you're coping with getting things configured or set up correctly, I sure as shit don't care if people aren't getting it working on their box, and I definitely don't care about how "other people" view Linux. Why should I be afraid of anecdotal desktop Linux failures if it works fine for me?

Linux is not a desktop operating system. By default, it has no audio configuration. Distros package whatever software is considered "current" at the date of their LTS cutoff; Ubuntu is one of them. Ubuntu is using outdated software, and will be stuck that way for a couple years. Currently, Linux audio is fine. You're the one using broken software and blaming others.

Re: Jabra denies support for Elite 85t Bluetooth earbuds on computers

#218

Post by smt88 »

AshamedCaptain wrote: post #215
smt88 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't find any evidence that this is common on 3.5mm jacks. If it is, it must be an incredibly reliable design, because I've never heard of a 3.5mm audio port breaking.

There are multiple examples online. Jacks which no longer do stereo but only one channel, or that require "fiddling" with the connection or rotating the plug, or the risks of leaving a plug inside a socket for a prolonged period of time, etc. And it is really problematic since it is the jack which wears out, which is usually hard to replace; soldered to expensive equipment.

So again: I can't find any evidence that the 3.5mm size of the connector has a spring. The bigger sizes does, but there is nothing online mentioning a spring. Please link to someone with a broken 3.5mm connector due to a spring, if you can find it. I can't.

Also, "there are examples online" != "this is a common thing". I have used dozens of 3.5mm and Bluetooth devices, and I've never had a Bluetooth device that 100% worked and I've never had a 3.5mm device that didn't work.

There are counterexamples in both categories, but my sample size is big enough now that I am willing to bet that the 3.5mm connector is just very well-designed and difficult to damage.

Re: Jabra denies support for Elite 85t Bluetooth earbuds on computers

#219

Post by AshamedCaptain »

smt88 wrote: post #218
AshamedCaptain wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are multiple examples online. Jacks which no longer do stereo but only one channel, or that require "fiddling" with the connection or rotating the plug, or the risks of leaving a plug inside a socket for a prolonged period of time, etc. And it is really problematic since it is the jack which wears out, which is usually hard to replace; soldered to expensive equipment.

So again: I can't find any evidence that the 3.5mm size of the connector has a spring. The bigger sizes does, but there is nothing online mentioning a spring. Please link to someone with a broken 3.5mm connector due to a spring, if you can find it. I can't. Also, "there are examples online" != "this is a common thing". I have used dozens of 3.5mm and Bluetooth devices, and I've never had a Bluetooth device that 100%…

> I can't find any evidence that the 3.5mm size of the connector has a spring

????? I guess I may be using the incorrect word. How do you refer to what keeps the audio circuit closed when no plug is inside the jack, opens it when the plug is inserted, and generally holds the plug inside the jack?

> Please link to someone with a broken 3.5mm connector due to a spring, if you can find it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZIWvvl_O7M -- first DDG result. Almost anyone suffering from a loose connection, losing one channel, sound continues to go to the speakers, etc. is suffering from either dust or this.

_In this very article_ there is someone complaining about the plug detect misbehaving which is actually something sensed by the spring (which opens a circuit when the plug is inserted -- on a classic TV this actually opens the normal audio circuit so that you don't hear anything on speakers, on a modern smartphone it just signals the OS).

> There are counterexamples in both categories, but my sample size is big enough now that I am willing to bet that the 3.5mm connector is just very well-designed and difficult to damage.

My dislike comes from a period when I was doing tech support some decades ago. People complain about broken microUSB connectors and the like, but now microUSB is something well designed, since it usually breaks at the cable side (i.e. the cheap side; for example the springs are on the plug). The 3.5 jack is not well-designed since it is usually the jack which wears (at the expensive side).

Keeping something 24/24 7/7 plugged in usually starts to kill the plug in a couple years. E.g. I'm hard of hearing, so I have to keep my headset plugged in all the time in the TV, and a after a couple years of this I start having problems where I suddenly lose one channel and have to go around the TV fiddling with the plug. Eventually this kills the jack (sound always goes to speakers or viceversa), which I've already replaced a couple times...

Re: Jabra denies support for Elite 85t Bluetooth earbuds on computers

#220

Post by AshamedCaptain »

AshamedCaptain wrote: post #219
smt88 wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So again: I can't find any evidence that the 3.5mm size of the connector has a spring. The bigger sizes does, but there is nothing online mentioning a spring. Please link to someone with a broken 3.5mm connector due to a spring, if you can find it. I can't. Also, "there are examples online" != "this is a common thing". I have used dozens of 3.5mm and Bluetooth devices, and I've never had a Bluetooth device that 100%…

> I can't find any evidence that the 3.5mm size of the connector has a spring ????? I guess I may be using the incorrect word. How do you refer to what keeps the audio circuit closed when no plug is inside the jack, opens it when the plug is inserted, and generally holds the plug inside the jack? > Please link to someone with a broken 3.5mm connector due to a spring, if you can find it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?…

(I meant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_SN7945Io and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31392326 )
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